ibul 2004 
  
  
  
GEOSPATIAL DIGITAL ASSET MANAGEMENT - A SOLUTION 
INTEGRATING IMAGERY AND GIS 
WHERE WILL ALL THE PIXELS GO?(AND HOW WILL WE EVER FIND 
THEM?) 
Dr. Joan Lurie, GCC, Inc. 
30 West 61* Street, Apt 9A 
New York, NY 10023 USA 
drjoan@gte.net 
KEY WORDS: Remote Sensing, Databases, Imagery, Archiving, Retrieval, Spatial Information Sciences 
ABSTRACT: 
The era of widely available high resolution remotely sensed data has arrived. With the advent of numerous commercial 
satellite systems, data sets of a quality and size previously restricted to government use are now readily available to a 
broad range of customers. But the data is only the beginning; the continued growth and health of the remote sensing 
industry depend on broad adoption of this technology. To achieve success, systems to derive information from imagery 
are essential. Utility of the high resolution data must be apparent to a broad community ranging from map makers to 
agricultural analysts to intelligence staff. Data utility depends critically on intelligent, useable systems for data storage, 
management, and exploitation. Digital asset management systems for storing and maintaining high resolution imagery 
data must be capable of integration with GIS layers and other metadata in order to move beyond GIS to spatial decision 
support systems. In this paper we describe an image-based geospatial data management system which meets these 
requirements and addresses issues crucial to the user including efficient data ingest and retrieval, cataloging, data 
security, data integrity, intellectual property and others. The system incorporates extensive retrieval strategies 
including geographic search techniques. The open architecture of the system ensures easy integration of multi- 
functional software to meet the needs of the individual user. For example, the system as currently configured integrates 
third party viewing and imagery manipulation software. The technical specifications and heritage of the system will 
be described as well as typical applications. 
1. INTRODUCTION crucial element of the marketplace. Dr. Stephen 
Cambone, Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence 
Commercial high resolution and multispectral satellite and a keynote speaker, discussed the need to transform 
and airborne systems are delivering an unprecedented the use of geospatial assets in the military and 
quantity of earth observation data in a very short time intelligence establishment — in the current 
alter acquisition. The ready availability of the data environment we must "know something about 
and the short time line together open up exciting new everything all the time" rather than know everything 
application areas including disaster management, about a few things (as in the Cold War era). At the 
urban planning, homeland security and many others. same time, more and more commercial enterprises are 
The demand for the data is growing and more and using geospatial information as an essential element of 
more imagery-derived products and applications are their business strategy. And, of course, the concern 
being developed. with Homeland Security has led to a critical need for 
geospatial databases which can be accessed effectively 
There is an increasing recognition, in both public and and efficiently in the event of an emergency. These 
private sectors, of the importance of managing all of major paradigm shifts in how government and 
this digital imagery and associated derived products. * commercial enterprises do business imply a critical 
À very successful and highly visible conference, need for intelligent management of digital assets of all 
Geolntel, late in 2003 appears to herald a new era in kinds but, particularly of geospatial digitak assets. 
the US in which the importance of geospatial Extensive (and expensive) data gathering efforts, in 
information will be more widely recognized as an government and industry, will be in vain if the 
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